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Consumer's Revenge Against Restaurant Not Honoring CouponsImage courtesy of

Alan writes:

Three co-workers and I went out to lunch. We brought a coupon that said, "Buy one entree, and receive 50% off a second entree of equal or lower price." Three of us ordered food from the Entree section of the menu, but one of us ordered something from the [cheap] Sandwich section.

Three co-workers and I went out to lunch. We brought a coupon that said, “Buy one entree, and receive 50% off a second entree of equal or lower price.” Three of us ordered food from the Entree section of the menu, but one of us ordered something from the [cheap] Sandwich section.

When the bill came, they had given us the sandwich for half price. I complained to the waiter, pointing out that the sandwich was not an entree. He did not budge. I asked to speak to the manager. After a while, the waiter returned and said he had spoken to the manager, who also refused to honor the coupon. He said that the 50% was off the
cheapest meal on the menu, whether it was an entree or not.

For the next week, I scrounged up about 10 of the same coupons…

Then I returned to the restaurant with my co-workers. I handed out these coupons to other customers. The restaurant staff became furious. They wanted to kick us out, but we already had our food. They asked me which customers I’d given the coupons to, but I refused to say. I related the sandwich story, and they really didn’t have any recourse.

So I never did get the $3 or whatever they owed me. But I got way more than $3 in entertainment, satisfaction, and the admiration of my co-workers.

After we left, a waiter ran after us in the parking lot to write down our license plate number. Be we never returned.

-Alan

Great story, Alan. Now, if you wanted to elevate this to the level of “Unscrewed,” what you could have done is called the manager ahead of time and promised to do what you were going to do unless they refunded you the difference you were owed. Say something like you feel like the deal on the sandwich was so amazing that you feel compelled to share it with the other restaurant patrons.